BULL.TTIN No. 147 AUGUST, 1909 AGS,10 ALABAMA Agricultural Experiment Station OF THE Alabama Polytechnic Institute AUBURN CRIMSON O CLOVER Y J. F.DU GGA R. Opelika, Ala.: The Post Publishing Company. 1909 COMMITTEE OF TRUSTEES ON EXPERIMENT STATION. ION. ON . N. H. L. MARTIN.. .............................. TRANCRED BETTS..............................Huntsville A . W . BELL........... ................... Ozark Anniston STATION COUNCIL. C. J. C. THACH........................................President F. DUGGAR...................... Director and Agriculturist B. B. Ross.....................................Chemist C. A. CARY ................................. P. F. WILLIAMS............................Acting Veterinarian Horticulturit J. T. ANDERSON..........Chemist, Soil and Crop Investigations D. T. GRAY ................................ Animal Industry W. E. HINDS.. HARE................ ................................. ........................... Entomologist C. F. E. LLOYD.......................Botanist L. Chemist ASSISTANTS. T'. BRAGG.............................. First Assistant E. F. CAUTHEN.............. Farm Superintendent and ~J. W. RIDGEWAY............ ,...... Assistant in Animal E. BELL...................Second. Assistant 1. N. Chemist Recorder Industry Chemist Science 5. W. 14. CS J. F. McADORY.................. Assistant in Veterinary TURNER ............ Assistant in Entomology FUNCHESS........................ Assistant in Agriculture. Assistant in 0. RIDCWAY................................ H. SELLERS................... BotanyClerk Stenographer and Mailing CRIMSON CLOVER BY J. F. DUGGAR. SUM MARY. Crimson clover is an annnal soil-improving plant, It suits most soils in labama. The seed are sown in.Septem- plants and covered. The plants in early bloom can be plowed about April 1, as a fertilizer for. cotton, corn, sweet potatoes, or other surnme crop; or the clover can be cut for the latter part of April and the stubble nsed as fertilizer. The yields of summer crops following'the plowing in of either the entire growth, or merely the stubble, of crimson clover have been much greater than where no.crimsvlr lover h-as been sown. The condition most essential to success in growingcrimclover consIsts in inoculation. This is most certainly effected by sowing with the seed as much as practicable the soil from a spot where crimson clover, red clover, white clover, or annual white clover, has recently grown successfully. The last mentioned occurs in nearly all parts of Alabalma, but- is not easy to find after May, when its white heads turn brown and the plant dies. W~hite clover and annual white clover can un! found old lawns and spots in pastures. Both lTow plants with white heads on the end of the short -stem, ber among the growing under hay in son of in both leaven consisting of roundish. Qr heartshaped leaflets each about the size :of the finger nail ufef one's a-nd haw), three feow-er dAiy be re little finger. Soil from lespedeza (Japan clover) does. not inoculatecrimson clover. Soil has been found to be a more reliable method of inoculation than the nse of artifical inoculating ,lHe l pure cultures. rntteriai, INTRODUCTION. The mziost urgent need of southern agriculture is the enricliment of the soil. To improve southern the principal additions needed are (1) vegetable matter and nitrogen. Crimson clover adds both vegetable matter and nitrogen to the soil on which it grows. In fact, this method of improving the soil by the growing of crimson clover seems to be most generally practicable method that can be put into immediate effect by southern farmers. This is partly because crimson clover is suited to a wide range of soils, because usually the seed are cheap, and because the seed can be sown in September among the growing cotton plants without special preparation of the soii. experiDuring each of the last fourteen years ments :have been made at Auburn, both on gray sandy sol (Norfolk sandy loam) and on reddish loam (Cecil series). to these accurately conducted experiments, tests have been made by farmers throughout the State under the directiio. of the writer. Many of these local tests, especially during the past few years, have been made with the Bureau of Plant Industry of the U. S. of Agriculture. The conclusions here presented are based chiefly on experiments at Auburn and on local tests in Alabama, full data for which would be too voluminous for recording in this bulletin. soils (2) the numerous addition In in co-operation Department WHAT CRIMSON CLOVER IS. Crimuson clover is also known as scarlet clover, and its botanical name is Trifolim incarrnatam. It is an annual plant, mnaking growth hetween September and May. The seed .must be sown each year, for while this plant seeds freely yet these seed- on dropping to. the ground, in and June, germinate promptly, and the young plants are-killed by the heat of summer. Crimson clover produces abundant crops of seed and farmers can save their seed. To do this the seed must be flailed or threshed fromi the. plants, and the seed !still in the sown without reclean fig its May here, owl) chaff 107 is Crimsoi clover is a leguminous plant, or legume, ranked with the other.cultivated legumes, cowpeas, velvet tbeans, vetches, red clover, etc., as a soil-improving:plant. and HOW 6RiMSON CLOVER IMPROVES THE SOIL. Crimson clover improves the soil on which it grows by means: (J) Since it grows dnring winter, its roots utilizeany or other soluble plant food which woul be washed or leached from the soil. On.account of its winter growth it decreases surface washing of the soil. . (3). When either the stubble or the entire plant is plowed under, vegetable matter of a kind that readily rots is added to the soil. (4). Crimsov clover, like all the other soil-improving legumes, is able, when; properly grown, to take nitrogen from the air to add it to the soil HO0W LEGUMES ADD NITROGEN TO THE SOIL. Crimson clover, like cowpeas, when grown under conditions, adds much nitrogen to each acre of soil. It takes this nitrogen from the air, where it is unavailable corn, cotton, and most other farm crops. The only cultivated plants that can thus utilize the free nitrogen of the air for their own growth and for subsequent soil enrichment the legumes,, or leguminous. plants, such as cowpeas, clovers, vetches, etc. Even these legumes cannot make use -the following nitrates (2). proper to are of the nitrogen of the air and cannot when they bear on their roots certain cept the improve the soil ex- enlargements or Familiar bumps, called tubercles or nodules. (See Fig. examples of nodules are the roundish enlargements on the fertilizer roots of cowpeas. Tubercies may be regarded factories for the manufacture of fertilizer nitrogen from 2.) as air unlimited. of free, or gaseous, nitrogen in the above. The air penetrates all cultivated and quantities drained soils and thu~s com-'s into contact with the tubercles on the Toots of leguminous plants, where it is used as the raw material for the manufacture of fertilizer nitrogen, an 108 element which costs 15 to 18 cents a pound when bought as seed meal, nitrate of soda., ammonated guano, etc. cotton INOCULATION. The interior of these tubercles is swarming with microwhich scopic life, called germs or bacteria. These as the belong to the vegetable kingdom, may be regarded in these fertilizer factories. A tubercle does not develop on the roots of any legume unless the right kind of germ, suited to that particular kind of plant, is present on the seed sown or in the soil, ready to enter the tiny root. For example, the writer has examined scores of samples of crimson clover plants from all parts of Alabama that had no tube:reles on the roots. These clover plants without tubercIes, were dwarfed, pale or y ellowish, and showedthe crop thus grown without tubereles to be complete failures. The greater part of several hundred failures with crimson clover which the writer -has investigated have been found to due to- the absence of tuberclen. (See Fig. 1.) Failures of this character need nut occur. There is simple, invariably remedy. It is called inoculation. Jnoculation of this kind means the supplying of suitable germs to the seed to be sown or to the soil where crimson clover is to be grown, so that these germs thus supplied may pene- bacteria, workmen ,be a trate develop. thve roots of the young plant and cause tubercles to If the proper germ for causing tubercies on clover )'be present in :the soil there will. be no need, of artificial in- oculation. However,. large- numbers of local tests under, our direction in lmost- every county in Alabama, lead- to the made most of Alabama. the clover conclusion that ,am is not -already present the soil. this germ is throughout in But -Ipren in soils where any~trim clover has grown for several t years and borne: tubercles. H en 'e. the surest method of ~oculatin ° crimson clover consists in sowing on the field where -this legume is to e4ow some soil taken from around the roots any true clover. One may use the upper two or three inches of such soil. The true clovers may be in- of, 1:I,il IIan1) tlu t i 11;1 m i ( u/fI r beatn I IT/witt ii i o l ill t coulpac Ie" IIl it11illo til I s'em. lit,hi s ~ '.4 it ~ * / r .io~ biit, t Inocula ted plant with severed root, sit. uf~reli s; oin Ilic right, an average plant front an adjacent talnJ ari iinoculated: there are no tubercles on the smaller plant. 110tO Crimson clover, red clover, white clover, and annual white or Carolina clover. Fortunately, careful search in April will usually be rewarded by finding the annual white clover in practically all parts of the State, in old lawns, old pastures, along roadsides, etc. Unfortunately, this clover dies in May, the white heads changing to brown and the plants soon disappearing until the next winter, or showing only a mass of short, slender, dead stems against the ground under the Lespedeza, or other summer growth. White clover is not so widely distributed as the annual white clover, but the former may be found even up to midsummer in some parts of the State in old lawns and in old pastures where the soil is rich and moist. DIRECTIONS FOR INOCULATING SOIL OR SEED. The details of inoculation may vary according to the amount of soil available. If there is an abundance of soil only necessary to sow, immediately after the sowing it isof the seed and before covering the latter, at least one ton per acre of the inoculating soil. This method of inoculation may be made even more effective by combining it with the following method: When there is only a limited amount of soil a gallon or more of it should be stirred into two or three times as much water; the seed should be thoroughly moistened with, or dipped into, this water and dried by mixing with another part of the very dry inoculating soil. Whatever soil remains should be sown broadcast before the seed are covered. This method is not well suited to seed as In this way small as those of crimson clover. few pecks of suitable soil may partially inoculate the seed for an acre. A part of the seed would escape incenlation and plants from these would be small; the thinner stand of vigorous plants thus obtained would inake the inoculate. ;plants spread out more and grow not so tall as, they would in a thick stand with all plants bearing tubercles. If much less than a ton of pulverized inoculating soil is used, one need expect only a partial success with crimson x 111 clover the first year. By sowing seed a second year in succession on such a partially inoculated soil, without further inoculation, the second crop should be thoroughly inoculated. START AT ONCE ON A SMALL SCALE. The importance of getting a start of a small area thoroughly inoculated is obvious when we remember that soil from such a spot will suffice the next fall to inoculate several hundred times as large an area. Those who find any difficulty in securing any considerable amount of soil from a spot of red, crimson, white, or annual white clover, should sow only a small area of crimson clover, say one quarter or one acre. No pains nor expense should be spared to get this thoroughly inoculated by using a liberal amount of inoculating soil. This area should be fenced against stock. It may even be lightly dressed with stable manure, after the plants are well up, though this is not necessary nor practicable on large areas. This "starter" patch should not be located in an old garden spot, for fear of possible presence there of nut grass, root-knot organisms, or germs of plant diseases, which would thus be scattered over the entire farm in the soil from this spot used in future to inoculate larger areas. Especially avoid for this "starter" patch any spot where black-root, or wilt, of cotton occurs, or where cowpeas die permaturely, or where there are root-knot swellings on the roots of cotton, turnips, etc. Too much care cannot be taken to ascertain that the spot selected for a "starter" patch is free from all plant diseases. This does not entirely prohibit the growing of crimson clover where certain plant diseases occur, provided the soil from such spots be not carried elsewhere as inoculating material. Crimson clover may again be sown the second fall on the area used the year before as a starter, not repeatin, the inoculation. In brief, start with an area so small that it can be thoroiughlily inoculated; and, especially if it prove s to be only 112 partially naoculated, again sow crimson clover there next season. After one crimson clover crop, welt inoculated as shown by abundance of tubercles, grown for one season on the "starter" patch, use soil from this to inoculate larger areas. Or, the next April locate in pastures, etc., spots of anuaf white clover in bloom, and place stakes at each corner such spots, so that inoculating soil from these spots can be used the following Septemhber when the annual white is dead. of clover WHAT SOILS DO NOT. NEED INOCULATION. To sow crimson clover without inoculation means on most soils in Alabama. complete failure. However, there that do not require it. Such are fields are. a few where there have bcen, in the preceding year or two, successred, or crimson, ,or white, or other true !ful growths clover-, (not lespedeza). fields of BENEFITS OF INOCULATION TO CRIMSON CLOVER CROP. There are two, viz., (1) increase in the yield of crimson clover, and (2), increased fertilizing effect of crimson clover, as shown in yields of subsequent crops of corn, sorghum, etc. made on the Experiment Station All the experiments here mentioned were In all Farm at Auburn. the inoculating those mentioned was soil from series), of in this section, material an ,older crimson clover field, applied broadtime at the rate of at least one ton per, acre at cast the seed. of sowing the In May. 103, on reddish sandy upland loam soil (Cecil where a moderate dressing' of stable manure had hay were as been used on the preceding ' crop of small grain, the yields crimson clover follows: -. 6100 lbs. per -acre Inoculated - ------NotL inoculated--_----------- 000. lbs. per acre Can from inoculation -_6100 lbs., per acre 113 The inoculated plants were green, tall, and their roots were abundantly supplied with tubercles. The plants not inoculated were yellowish, not branched, two to four inches tall and there were no tubercles on the roots. There was not enough for cutting with scythe or sickle. Fig 1 shows the contrast between typical inoculated and noninoculated planets. In the fall of 1908, on poor, whitish, sandy, upland soil (Norfilk sandy loam), although too late for best success, a plot of crimson clover was inoculated with soil from an older crimson clover field, and another plot left without inoculation. These plots were not harvested, but the marked difference in appearance were as follows; The inoculated plants were green, thrifty, about 14 to 16 inches tall, and their roots were covered with tubercles; the yield was estimated at about one ton of hay per acre. The plants not inoculated had no tubercles, were yellowish, and had but one or two stems per plant, and were not tall enough to cut, most plants dying before blooming, or blooming at a height of only 2 to 6 inches. PURE CULTURES, OR ARTIFICIAL INOCULATING MATERIAL. In August, 1897, and in August 1898, the writer publish.d results of inoculation of crimson clover by the use of pure cultures, or bottled material prepared in the laboratory. As these bulletins (Nos. 87 and 96 of the Ala. bama Experiment Station) are now out of print, some of the results of these earlier tests will we referred to here. In both of the following tests the pure cultures used was imported from Germany under the name "Nitragin." 114 Results of intoculation. experinmnts on crimson clover, using "Nitragin." Hay, per Acre Date of Sowing 0Kind q 0b KnfiIncrease of Soil from ZC Inoculation Lbs. ' ° . Lbs. Lbs. Sandy, 20 years in cotton...... '11,1896pots n iSandy, 5 years since cleared. ' Fall, 18961 s pots Woodland, sandy.................... Fall,1896 In pots Sandy,after cowpeas.....................379 'a11,1896 In pots Fall,18971In fieldlSandy, worn........ 4057 761 Per ci. 71 74 3296 433 Thus, it may be seen that when attempted inoculation with pure cultures is effective, the increase in crop is highly satisfactory. In the experiments tabulated above, inoculation in several instances increased the yield more than three-fold. The above figures give the favorable side of inoculation with "Nitragin." Its use was, however, found impracticable because so often the germs in it were dead and inoculation did not result. EXPERIENCE IN RECENT YEARS WITH PURE CULTURES OR ARTIFICAL INOCULATING MATERIAL. In recent years the United States Department of Agriculture and a number of commercial, firms have engaged in the manufacture of pure cultures, a special kind for the inoculation. of each particular legume. At first these were. sent out in the form of wisps of dried, cotton, the proper germs were lodged. Station had numerous This on-which tests of these cultures made on a great variety of. soils. The result was a long list of failures, with few, if any, sueA later improvement was the. sending of the cultures liquid form in sealed tubes. The experience this Station with these was, on the whole, unsatisfactory. For example, of in 115 attempts to inoculate crimson clover were made in the fall of 1908 with pure cultures from crimson clover, both from the Department and from a commercial firm. Parts of both plots were occupied by small pale plants without tubercles, and the spots that were inoculated may have accidentally secured their inoculation, by wind or surface water, from an adjacent check plot inoculated with soil, Both culture plots were distinctly inferior to the plot inoculated with soil. Constant improvements are being made in the methods of manufacturing and distributing the pure cultures made by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. The improvement and the successes sometimes reported give reason to hope that in due time this may become the best means of inoculating legumes. Its advantages are convenience; economy of labor; avoidance of the danger that is inherent in the use of soil, nam.ly, spreading disease germs, root-knot organisms, weed seeds, etc. The only objection to pure cultures is their frequent failures, at this and at other Experiment Station, to cause the formation of tubercles or the obvious fixation of nitrogen. Our experience compels us to advise that at present pure cultures be not relied upon as a means of inoculation. Inoculation with soil has never, in our experience, failed; pure cultures have often done so. Still less advisable generally is the purchase, at additional cost, of seed said to be inoculated. CRIMSON CLOVER AS A FERTILIZER. When grown largely for fertiizer, crimson clover may be disposed of as follows: (1). It may be cut for hay, plowing under the stubble as a fertilizer. (2). The entire growth may be plowed under as fertilizer. (3). During the last few weeks of growth crimson clover may be grazed, probably without sacrificing a very large part of its fertilizing value. 116 At Auburn crimson clover is in full bloom and ready to be cut between April 15 and 3)0. Observation has indicated that at Auburn the first few days in April constitute a suitable average date for plowing under crimson clover that is to be followed by a cotton crop. At this date it should be just begining to bloom and 12 to 15 inches higho By plowing the entire growth under at this time, and allowing the land to settle for about two weeks, before planting cotton near the middle of April, the yield of cotton has ranged as high as one and one-half bales per acre on gray sandy upland, naturally poor. The cotton crop following crimson clover receives its quota of commercial fertilizers, which in this case should be especially rich in phosphoric acid. By waiting until the clover should be in full bloom, say April 15, doubtless the amount of vegetable matter and nitrogen added to the soil would be greater than by plowing it under about the first of April. Not all the land intended for cotton could have its preparation delayed until this date, but crimson clover can be followed by late cotton, by corn, sweet potatoes, sorghum, etc. Where it becomes necessary to plow under crimson (lover before April 1, its fertilizing effect is greatly reduced. If crimson clover is grown chiefly for fertilizer, with pasturage also as a consideration, the nearer it comes to the blooming stage before being pastured the greater the fertilizing effect. The following table gives the results of several experiments at Auburn, showing the increase in the next crop due to crimson clover or crimson clover stubble. Yield of sorghum hay grown after crimson clover stuble in 1901. Yied IncreaseL Sorghum Hay Per Acre Lbs. % 2900 Yield crimson clover hay ............. Yield of sorghum hay after rye stubble ....... .. 6460 Yield of sorghum hay after crimson clover stubble 12710 97 6250 .... Increase due to clover stubble........... :.. .. ...... 117 This shows that in 1901 ongray sandy land.after ermsFon clover cut for hay, the yield of sorghum hay was practically' twice as much as where the preceding crop was rye, used for hay. On another field, also in 1901, on poor gray sandy the results were as follows: soil, Yield of sorgnum hay per acre grown after crimson'cover and crirsonm clover stubble in1901. Yield sorghum hay Increase per acre Lbs. Lbs. 5525 Rlye stubble.......................... 76 Crimson clover stubble............... 9750 4425 iCrimson clover, entire...............10300 86 Preceding crop as fertilizer 4775 This table shows that by plowing under crimson clover in April the yield of sorghum hay grown immediately after was nearly doubled. When the crimson clover was cut for hay the sorghum yield was increased by 76 percent. this stubble plot was The yield of crimson clover 2741 pounds per acre, and the increase in sorghum hay due to the use of clover stubble as a fertilizer, was 4225 pounds acre. A third experiment on this line was made in on ieddish loam soil which was naturally richer than the gray soil of the two experimuents just mentioned. This reddi h loam had also been helped by a light applica- hay 'on per 1903 tion of stable manure applied to the, crop of, small- grain which preceded the crimson clover. Under these favorable conditions the yield of crimson clover hay was 6100 pounds per acre. The adjacent plot had been treated,. exactly like the crimson clover plot' as regards previous cropping and manuring. Yield of Preceding Here sorgghunti hay per acre grown, after crimson clover in. 1903. crop Yield sorghum hay Increase per acre. weeds Winter arnd springfertilizer........... (stubble) Crimson clover as Lbs. Lbs. 8600 4400. 13000 we have an. extreme or maximum fertilizing. effect 118 of the crimson clover stubble of 8600 pounds of sorghum hay per..acre. By adding to this the yield of clover hay, 6100 pounds, we have a total of 14700 pounds per acre of the two kinds of hay, as the measure of the advantage of sowing the land in crimson clover as compared with permitting it to grow up in winter weeds. Both the crimson clover hay and the sorghum hay when weighed were dry enough for safe storing in the barn. Even if we assume a shrinkage of 25 per cent in the barn we should haye a total yield of more than 7 tons of hay per acre produced in one season and a gain of about 5 1-2 tens as the result of devoting the land to clover instead of to weeds. CRIMSON CLOVER STUBBLE VERSUS ENTIRE GROWTH OF CRIMSON CLOVER. In 1908 cotton was planted very late after oat stubble, after crimson clover stubble and after attempting to plow under the entire growth of mature and thoroughly dry crimson clover. Only a part of the mature plants were covered by the plow, so that the full effects as fertilizer were not obtained. The late planting, the period of extremely unfavorable weather in August, when this late cotton suffered especially, and the necessity of preparing these plots before frost for another crop. obscured the full fertilizing effect of the crimson clover. In- the part of the season for which records were kept the yields of seed cotton per acre were as follows:: 342 lbso After oat stubble --------------------------456 lbs. After clover stubble ------------------------lbs. -___528 ---After clover. entire growth-The color and size of plants on these three plots gave promise of much larger yields and much greater differences, if the experiment could have been carried to a normal conclusion. Measurements showed that the bolls were largest on the 119 plot where- the entire growth of crimson clover was plowed under and smallest on the plants growing after oat stubble. In one of the experiments' described above the yield of sorghum hay after plowing under the entire growth of crimson clover was only 550 pounds greater than after plowing under crimson clover stubble, on land where the yield of crimson clover hay was 2741 pounds per acre. In another experiment the superiority of the entire growth of crimson clover as a fertilizer over the stubble alone was measured by an increase of only 800 pounds per acre in the yield of sorghum hay. Here the yield of clover hay on the stubble plot was 1441 pounds per acre. Thus both experiments show that it was more profitable to cut the hay than to plow the entire growth under as a fertilizer for sorghum. Doubtless the principal advantage of plowing under the entire growth, rather than the stubble, consists in the gneater permanancy of. the improvement in the land. The analysis of the entire plant of crimson clover, including the roots, and of the -stubble alone, (Alabama Station Bulletin No. 96.), showed that only about 16 percent of the total nitrogen was contained in the stubble and roots of crimson clover. With stubble of the usual length, probably 20 percent or more of the nitrogen would be found in the stubble and roots. The conclusions suggested by considering together both field tests and analysis are the following: (1). A greater immediate profit results from using only the stubble as a fertilizer. (2). A much larger amount of nitrogen and of vegetable matter is added to. the soil by plowing under the entire growth of crimson clover, and hence doubtless this course results in a greater and more permanent improvement of the soil. (3). By plowing under the entire growth a farmer may prepare the land three or four weeks earlier than by waiting to cut the hay, thus making it practicable to grow cotton on a field where the entire growth is plowed under. 120 CAUTION IN USING CRIMSON CLOVER HAY. Cases have been reported where horses eating hay from very ripe crimson clover have ha] trouble from the formation of balls of matted hairs in the stomach. These hairs stiffen as the seed approaches maturity. It is believed that this trouble can be avoided by cutting the hay before it is past full bloom and by feeding partly on some other hay, if that from this clover is overripe. DIRECTIONS FOR SEEDING CRIMSON CLOVER. The amount of seed required is 15 pounds, or one peck, per acre. We have more frequently sown 20 pounds. The time of sowing at Auburn has varied from early in September to late in October. From a study of the results of our many experiments the conclusion is reached that safe dates at Auburn are at least as early as September 10, and as late as October 10. Sowing the latter half of September is preferred. If crimson clover seed are sown too early, the ho't weather of September sometimes kills the sprouting seed, or the young plants before they become well rooted. If the sowing is postponed much beyond the 10th of October at Auburn, the stand is sometimes injured by the cold of a severe winter. The following dates are suggested as suitable periods for sowing in different parts of Alabama: September 1 to September 30 in north Alabama, September 10 to October 10 in central Alabama, and September 20 to October 20 in south Alabama. SOILS. Mandy Crimson clover thrives on a wide range of soils from to black-waxy, or prairie. In the sandy regions it does better on the loam soils or those containing a medium amount of clay. In regions of stiff soils it requires good drainage. On deep gray sands it is apt to fail, though where the stiffer subsoil is not too deep, it may succeed here. It is not wise to risk large areas of crimson clover on acid soils unless lime is used. 121 PREPARATIONS FOR SOWING. At Auburn crimson clover has grown equally as well when sown among the growing cotton plants as when the land was thoroughly plowed and harrowed. Sowing of crimson clover seed in the cotton field should be done immediately after the first or second picking to avoid knocking any of the seed cotton out of the bolls. This crop has repeatedly succeeded well when the seed were harrowed in among the stubble on a field that had received clean culture while growing a crop of drilled sorghum. The sorghum stubble or the cotton stalks, are, however, inconvenient if it is desired to mow the clover for hay. When this clover is grown for hay the land should be plowed if possible several weeks before the time of planting, and repeatedly harrowed until the seedbed becomes fine and settled. If the seed must be planted soon after the land is plowed, a roller or drag, as well as a harrow, may, be needed to compact the 'soil. The best time to sow the seed is while the soil is moist from a recent rain. The inoculating soil is best sown broadcast, immediately after sowing the seed, using, if practicable, a ton of soil from a spot of red, crimson, white, or annual white clover. Always cover the inoculating 'soil promptly. In a few tests we have succeeded in making a successful inoculation by scattering the inoculating soil over the growing plants during a period of wet weather in the early part of winter. is essential that the crismon clover seed be well cover.ed with one-half to one and one-half inches of soil. In all of our tests attempts to secure a stand by sowing without covering the seed have failed. Failure has occurred even when a heavy rain fell soon after the sowing. When the aseed are sown on a well prepared seedbed, covering is best done with a spike-tooth, two-section harrow. When the seed are sown among the growing cotton plants they may be covered by using any !shallow-working one-horse cultivating implement. such as a five-tooth cultivator, a spring-tooth one horse cultivator, a wide heel scrape, etc. It 122 It is not easy to get a stand of crimson clover either on prepared or unprepared soil where there is a large amount of vege'tation; hence, it is not usually easy to sow crimson clover seed in a corn field laid by early, nor on old pasture land, nor on weed land. A field where drilled or broadcast cowpeas have recentiy been cut for hay is probably, next to a clean cotton field, the best place for sowing crimson clover. Here it is better to prepare the surface by the use .of a disk harrow than by the use of a turn plow. After disking, the seed should be sown, the inoculating soil and fertilizer sown, and all covered with a spike-tooth harrow. FERTILIZER. Crimson clover, if thoroughly inoculated, adds considerable nitrogen to the soil. But it does not add phosphoric acid nor potash. If the soil be so poor as to require these two forms of plant food for the successful growth of crimson clover, they should be applied at the same time that the seed are sown. A suitable amount of acid phosphate is 200 to 300 pounds per acre. If the clover is to be removed from the land as hay, it may pay, especially on the sandier soils, to employ at the same time either 40 pounds of muriate of potash, or 160 pounds of kainit per acre. In sowing the crimson clover among the standing cotton plants on soils in fair condition we have often used no fertilizer and yet obtained a satisfactory growth. In making a start with crimson clover it is advisable to fertilize it with acid phosphate. When it is especially important on small areas to secure a good growth and thorough inoculation of the soil, it may even be advisable to apply stable manure, since stable manure will probably make a small amount of inoculating soil more effective than if the small amount of inoculating soil were applied to a deficient in vegetable matter. Stable manure should not be relied upon as a substitute for inoculation nor as a means of inoculation. ,soil 123 LIMING. Most clovers prefer a soil rich in lime. If the soil should be so deficient in lime as to be acid it is advisable to use slacked lime for crimson clover. At Auburn on very poor gray sandy soil, not acid, but neutral, slacked lime at the rate of 1200 pounds per acre greatly increased the yield of crimson clover hay. On the same character of soil, but in a higher state of fertility, the effect of lime on crimson clover was not conspicious. There are large areas of acid soil in Alabama, especially in the southern part of the state arid in f he sandy "mountain" lands of north Alabama. On such acid soils it will probably pay to use, as a preparation for crimson clover, six to eight barrels of builder's lime per acre, first slacking the lime to a powder. The lime is best harrowed into the soil before the seed are sown and should not be brought in immediate contact with the seed and fertilizer. To test a soil for acidity, press the soil in a natural damp condition against both sides of a narrow strip of blue litmus paper, which may be obtained from a druggist. If the blue litmus paper turns to a pinkish or reddish color the-soil is acid, and a crop of crimnson clover growing on it will probably be helped by lime. VARIETIES OF CRIMSON CLOVER. . There is but one kind of crimson clover in general use in the United States. In a few localities another variety, called the white blooming crimson clover, or more properly white trifolium, is grown to a small extent. The white trifolium bears a long white head similiar in size and shape to the scarlet head of crimson clover. The white trifolium is several weeks later in reaching a suitable stage for cutting. At Auburn this white kind has usually grown a little taller and afforded a considerably larger yield of hay. We have grown in Auburn three varieties having scarlet 1124 crimson:)l in 190 theslQe yield((d pratically t wo to4Is of hav Late( 4*11111$4II S.P.I po.21 2(8) o.'1 282) I%;tilV crimson)r 8.PI.1I 4101; pouinds hav per ncrv. 4288 pouifdsi ha+ per acr. Ini 10 the yield of whlitie trifol ium was obv'iously greater 111a11 11,a1 of iiv othier varieties, blit the havs was